I’ve posted a bunch of dumb questions on here over the last week or so, sucking in all the knowledge I can before I buy my first AR. What confuses me is that it seems NONE of the rifles we can buy are acceptable as a box stock weapon. It seems that you guys are swapping out parts and upgrading some pretty critical components before shot #1 is fired…triggers and bolt carrier groups? Buffers and springs…staking stuff that isn’t staked at the factory? Its kind of mind boggling.
I understand customization for personal preference-sake, but how much of this stuff is necesary? For MY use, I can envision a white light add on as the only customized feature.
I’m pretty close to buying a S&W MP15 with Troy flip up sights and a piccatinny type forend. Like I said earlier, I will probaly only add a white light when it is being used in a home/camp/truck protection mode. I MIGHT throw a scope on it 30 days out of the year for coyotes. So am I missing something? What other non cosmetic components will I need to replace later on? Trying to avoid “buyers remorse”.
see you miss the point that a lot of people treat these weapons like some people treat cars. upgrading and modding as a pastime. like a person might put wheels on their car, or a new exhaust sytem people do the same with flash hiders, and magpul stocks, lol.
its all personal preference in the end and really a bare bones stock 16" m4 will do for 99 percent of people’s shooting. But if someone wants the newest and greatest thing out there its their money and they can do what they want.
i would just suggest getting a bare bones m4 and shoot the piss out of it, and you will find what you want to modify. thats the beauty of this system is you can upgrade a part at a time without doin a full fledged build. what you are getting sounds like a good starter platform stick with it and enjoy
If your not sure then I would suggest the colt 6940 ,and a acog and flashlight for coyotes,at least with the colt it has all standard options ,and I don’t think you will have buyers remorse.
it is about shopping and getting what you “need” for the best price. You need sights. For a home defense or work gun, a light is as needed as sights are.
But first decide what you are doing with the gun. Then train. You will be training and go “gee, I wish I had a…”
The mass behind the sights is more important than the gizmo’s. Someone who cant shoot wont be able hit anything no matter how much he spends.
One thing I am wondering about are the iron sights. The M16 I was issued in the early 80’s, obviously had the simple carry handle rear sight and the triangle type front sight. They seemed perfectly suitable for combat, targets, etc. And DURABLE. I like the idea of a removeable carrying handle as an option, but what do you guys felal about carrying handle type sights vs flip up sights?
I think the flip up sights “look cool”…but I’m trying to stay away from tacti-cool and stick with proven gear.
Not everyone is at the “basement level” on what works and what they need from a weapon platform.
When I buy a new AR I know right off:
1: That the gap between the pistol grip and trigger guard needs to go, or I am going to need band-aids.
2: The M4 enhanced or A2 stock needs to go because I hate how it slides around on my shoulder under recoil.
3: It needs a sling mounting point on the end of the stock and on the fore-end OR alternately a sling mounting point on the receiver end-plate.
4: I really like the Vltor light mounts, and they work best for me at 9 o’clock so the clamshell M4 fore-end has to go to.
5: The A2 flash suppressor is not that great, so it get’s replaced. Usually with a FS that works with my suppressor, sometimes not.
If you don’t know these things, that’s fine. Some of us do, and therefore certain mods are immediate and understood to be necessary. The experience did not come cheaply, and quite often I bought and sold a lot of gear to find what I liked and what worked best for my needs.
1: That the gap between the pistol grip and trigger guard needs to go, or I am going to need band-aids. Q: How do you fix that?
2: The M4 enhanced or A2 stock needs to go because I hate how it slides around on my shoulder under recoil. Q: What do you prefer?
3: It needs a sling mounting point on the end of the stock and on the fore-end OR alternately a sling mounting point on the receiver end-plate. Q: is this something I could do myself?
4: I really like the Vltor light mounts, and they work best for me at 9 o’clock so the clamshell M4 fore-end has to go to.
5: The A2 flash suppressor is not that great, so it get’s replaced. Usually with a FS that works with my suppressor, sometimes not. Q: What don’t you like about the stock flash suppressor?
Why are mods done to stock guns? Because they can and sometimes they need to be. I’ve seen a Bushmaster that didn’t have a properly staked gas key. That I’d fix ASAP before shot one. I’d swap out the A2 grip as soon as I could because I find it too skinny. I’d shoot it with the A2 grip if I didn’t have a MIAD grip to replace it with. I’d remove the sling loop on the standard stock because it pokes me in the chest.
Stock factory offerings work (some better than others) but sometimes it’s best to “fix” the gun so it fits you better.
It’s innovation. The AR platform is so versitale. I think alot of people change things to fit there style of shooting but I do agree before going and building an all out gun that people should buy a box stock gun and shoot the shit out of it. Learn the platform in its simplest form than once they are proficient at operating it at that level than customize it the way they want to.
As to your question about sights, the Troy flip-up sights are very solid, pretty much the industry standard other flip up sights are judged against. I like the original A1 sighting system better than the later A2 system, because it was a simpler system. I doubt very highly I’m going to take the time to dial in windage into my iron sights.
The Troy sights are more along this vane, with simple L-R adjustments and using the front sight for elevation. The fold-up feature is nice for future mounting of scopes and giving a nice clean view, but they also work just fine as the primary sighting system.
BTW, I agree with what others have said about the S&W rifle; I have nothing but good things to say about the MP-15, my department fields about 80 of them with no problems, and more are enroute.
5: The A2 flash suppressor is not that great, so it get’s replaced. Usually with a FS that works with my suppressor, sometimes not. Q: What don’t you like about the stock flash suppressor?
I think the standard A2 birdcage is excellent. But for a mere $25 you can get a bit better performance from a YHM phantom (judging by some videos I’ve seen).
you’re still missing it, and so are most people who’ve posted…
these 5 questions are unasnwerable right now. shivan was giving you perspective, not suggestions. only YOU’ll be able to answer them when the time comes, but you CANT answer them until you get some trigger time in on something stock.
if you buy an LMT, BCM, Colt, Noveske, KAC, Sabre Defence, or even an S&W, you don’t have to do ANYTHING but clean it before you shoot it. and thats EXACTLY all you should do. don’t even get an RDS yet- use the irons.
You may have misread shivan’s post because those are very much suggestions, and unless I’m mistaken his point was these are 5 examples of basic mods most people make immediately.
Also, they aren’t all unanswerable. 2 and 5 are very straight forward which is why I offered my suggestions for those two.
if you buy an LMT, BCM, Colt, Noveske, KAC, Sabre Defence, or even an S&W, you don’t have to do ANYTHING but clean it before you shoot it. and thats EXACTLY all you should do. don’t even get an RDS yet- use the irons.
Excellent advice which will save any new shooter LOTS of work and money because as you learn the platform itself, and the industry, your wants and needs will evolve regularly and rapidly.
Most of us probably have boxes of useless stuff due to customizing before we really knew what we wanted!
